Rob is blowing a whistle, over and over.
Bob: “Why are you blowing that whistle, Rob?”
Rob: “To keep the dragons away.”
Bob: “I see no dragons.”
Rob: “It works!”
Rob is blowing a whistle, over and over.
Bob: “Why are you blowing that whistle, Rob?”
Rob: “To keep the dragons away.”
Bob: “I see no dragons.”
Rob: “It works!”
All superstitions. Lucky charms (not the cereal). Curses (eg. Everytime I cheer for this sport team they lose, but they win when I don’t cheer, so it must be a curse).
The classic Superstition in the Pigeon study by B. F. Skinner back in 1948 is always a good thing to read when this subject comes up.
Otherwise something awful might happen.
It’s like some kind of low hanging fruit convention.
Give me one that all the normal, smart people like you and me are guilty of.
Wait but I’m not smart :x
Also ask any sports or sports fan and they will give you a list of them.
As an example, there’s something called the “caster curse” which I’m pretty sure originates from esports but I don’t see why it couldn’t apply to sports as well. It’s the belief that you can curse an individual/team by praising them (usually happens in real time as the game is being cast). Eg. “Person X never misses those!” Person X then proceeds to miss 3 times in a row.
As a more generalized version of the “caster curse”, a lot of people don’t like to talk about something that is either very likely or very unlikely to happen because they are afraid it will “jinx it”.
Example
Friend A: I don’t know why you’re so anxious, you did way better than the other contestants. This contest is in the bag!
You: Stop talking. You’re going to jinx it.
I’ve always assumed people were joking when they said that. Do people actually believe this?